Julia Roberts was visibly moved Friday night as her latest film, After the Hunt, brought the Venice Film Festival crowd to its feet for six straight minutes.
The Amazon MGM Studios drama, directed by Luca Guadagnino, premiered on the Lido to thunderous applause. As the ovation rolled on, Roberts wiped away tears, blew kisses to the audience, and embraced Guadagnino along with co‑stars Ayo Edebiri — who also teared up — and Andrew Garfield.
Before the screening, Roberts and Guadagnino paused on the red carpet to sign autographs, greeted by cheers of “Julia!” and “Luca!” Garfield, looking sharp in a blue suit and clean‑shaven, worked the crowd with selfies and smiles.
In After the Hunt, Roberts plays Alma Olsson, a celebrated Ivy League professor forced to confront her own hidden past when a colleague is accused of inappropriate conduct with a student. Garfield takes on the role of Henrik “Hank” Gibson, the accused colleague, while The Bear breakout Edebiri plays Maggie Price, Alma’s protégée who makes the allegation.
The R‑rated film has already stirred controversy in Venice. At a tense press conference earlier in the day, Roberts fielded pointed questions about the movie’s handling of #MeToo and cancel culture. She pushed back at the idea that the film was courting outrage, saying society is “losing the art of conversation in humanity right now.”
“We’re not making statements; we are portraying these people in this moment in time,” Roberts said. “To be excited or infuriated about it is up to you. If making this movie does anything, getting everybody to talk to each other is the most exciting thing we could accomplish.”
The cast also includes Guadagnino regulars Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny. The screenplay marks the feature debut of writer Nora Garrett, with Guadagnino, Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum producing. Garrett, Karen Lunder, Justin Wilkes, and Alice Dawson serve as executive producers.
Guadagnino is no stranger to Venice. Just last year, he premiered Queer, starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, to a nine‑minute ovation. His festival history stretches back to his 1999 debut The Protagonists, and includes I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), Suspiria (2018), The Shoemaker of Dreams (2020), and Bones and All (2022), which won him the Silver Lion for best direction.
